[Harp-L] Re: How much rehearsal for covers



You say declining to rehearse was an "uncomfortable" decision. This implies that perhaps you didn't feel right about it. The guitar player called you out for not stating in front that you weren't willing to rehearse. Asking the forum to submit views implies that you aren't sure if he's right. Since you asked, an I can be an opinionated s.o.b., here's my view.

If the guy says he's not willing to show a product until he feels it's ready, the project is obviously a start up and really begs the obvious question, "So, what do you think it will take to get to that point and how long?" To which some element of rehearsal is going to be an obvious element of the answer. With respect, someone who seems to be as experienced as yourself I would have thought would have known that. I suspect the guitar player may have assumed that as well, thus his belief that you should have mentioned reluctance to do weekly rehearsals in front. His bad for making an assumption. Your bad for not seeing what was obvious.

The comparison with the bass player is not really valid. Different people have different ways of working. We all don't work the same and none is necessarily better than the other and many factors are involved. It sounds like the guitar player's project was archival. He wants it all played note for note. Maybe the Boston band only needed a close approximation. How many people in a Vegas audience are going to know if a bass line is not absolutely correct?

The "Call me when you have work," is not necessarily arrogant. It is simply stating your condition, i.e. you're normally not willing to work on the "if come". The very first lesson I ever learned when I reluctantly first took on the role of band leader was this Cosmic Law. If you have paying gigs musicians will be lined up around the block. If you do not have gigs, it's hard to get musicians and even if you do they're probably not the ones you want.

Bottom line, "What we have here is a failure to communicate." If you really like the idea of this project, I'd call the guitar player back and just put him in the picture. Sorry about the misunderstanding and you don't mind rehearsing but you need to know where the end game is. There are people for whom rehearsing is everything. I knew a great bunch of players who were doing Little Feat and Steely Dan covers. They rehearsed once a week for two bloody years without a gig. The bass player, my best friend, was so frustrated he actually hired a pub and created a gig himself. They filled the place, played great, and were offered a residency and still turned it down. At which point my friend quit. In my view, reheasing is fine and I enjoy it but there comes a point where all you've done is get good at rehearsing.






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